“I can't...” I said carefully and straightened up, but he held me tight.
“Leave the mask on, just please…” He pulled me toward him again. “Please, don't go.”
I felt tears in my eyes, and then coldness shot into my fingers, more and more. Suddenly, I saw fine ice crystals forming on the car door, moving up the windshield, and...
No.
My eyes widened, and I began to shiver.
“J, are you okay?” Erik asked, leaning up to me, but I backed away.
Gloria's Salma seemed to be losing its effect, because images came flooding back. Images of the most horrible moments of my life. Images of the day when someone had had control over me.
“What's wrong?” Erik continued to ask, but as much as I wanted to, I couldn't respond to him.
“Don't be stubborn like your mother and lie down!”
The man in my head leaned over me, and my stomach began to cramp.
I got a slight nausea and more ice crystals spread under my fingers. It was getting colder around us.
I couldn't put Erik in danger. I had to get out of here.
Without another word, I pulled away from him and pushed against the car door. Erik pulled up, but I was already groping for the car door, pulling the handle down and pushing it open.
“J...” Erik began, confused.
I stumbled out of the big car, stumbling backwards.
Then I darted around and hurried across the large parking lot in remorse, clutching the bag tightly in my hands as it froze in my fingers.
“J!” I heard Erik shout and looked around one last time. I tried to memorize every detail. A young man who deserved better. Erik didn't belong in such a brutal life. I should never have met him...
God...what had I done? How had I ever thought I deserved all this? To just take it for myself?
I had destroyed our friendship.
I turned and ran, sprinted, stumbled panting into the stormy night, hoping that I would never – and yet somehow – forget him.
Chapter 66
Larissa
The rhythm of the music made me bounce up and down, and I felt alive again for the first time in a while. I was made for parties. Or rather, parties were made for me. If there was one thing I was absolutely into, it was dancing. Nowhere was I more self-confident than on the dance floor.
I moved to the beat of Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO and stretched my arms upwards.
Maybe it had something to do with the three cocktails I'd enjoyed with Julie earlier, but as long as I could still dance without bumping into people, everything was great.
Every now and then, I caught myself looking up to the VIP area above the DJ, but that didn't bring Adrian DeLoughrey back to where he'd been standing with his guys thirty minutes ago.
I turned, and a guy was standing right behind me, dancing toward me. When he got too close, I moved backwards, but he followed me. I stopped dancing and showed him my middle finger. He raised his hands defensively, and disappeared into the crowd with the words, “Today's chicks aren't any fun anymore.”
“Asshole!” I shouted after him, but he was already gone.
I was about to continue dancing, but when I turned around, I bumped into the next person.
“Now, I understand why Adrian has so much respect for you.” A young man with a brown undercut man bun grinned with amusement.
My breath hitched for a second when I realized who it was.
“You...” I said slowly.
“Me,” Miles said, his grin widening.
“Tell Adrian he can fuck off.”
I tried to keep dancing, but Adrian's mean friend wouldn't leave my side. So, I stopped and turned to him.
“Do you want to dance with me or stare holes into the air?” I asked, challenging, but he just looked at me with amusement, so I kept dancing.
When I turned around again, he had disappeared. Strange guy...
“Larissa!” My best friend's voice reached my ears, and I turned to her.
“Do you want to dance with me, or do you just want to annoy me as well?”
I took a closer look at Bayla. Her eyes were dark underneath as if she hadn't slept, and that was with make-up on. Her hair also looked like a mess.
